An aircraft may use an onboard weather radar system to detect adverse weather conditions, which may enable the flight crew to make changes to the flight plan as necessary to avoid potentially hazardous weather. The onboard weather radar system may be mounted on the aircraft and may use radar scans to detect reflected radar signals from weather formations such as convective weather cells associated with turbulence, rain, lightning, and hail. Up-to-date weather information may assist the flight crew of the aircraft in evaluating whether or how to modify a flight plan to avoid certain weather cells, as well as to promote fuel efficiency, time efficiency, and passenger comfort. The onboard weather radar system may control weather radar scanning and may process radar return signals to present a visual weather radar display.
An aircraft in flight may also receive weather data from other sources such as ground-based weather radar stations, which may help identify convective weather regions or other emerging hazards for aircraft operations. Air traffic control systems may track positions and velocity of aircraft and help control aircraft positions within the vicinity of airports. Air traffic control may be based on radar surveillance, and may also be supplemented with cooperative radio surveillance techniques, such as techniques using automatic dependent surveillance—broadcast (ADS-B) systems.